Comcast announced Tuesday two new prosocial partnerships that benefit the disability community and promote broadband adoption to low-income communities.
Those are both issues near and dear to FCC Chairman Wheeler and come as Comcast prepares to offer up voluntary conditions on a proposed Time Warner Cable merger.
Comcast said Tuesday it is partnering with Arc, which advocates for disability community rights, on a new national effort to expand digital opportunities. Comcast and NBCU have made a three-year, $3.7 million commitment to the project in cash and in-kind support, including airing Arc PSAs.
The Comcast Foundation is also providing $400,000 to support digital training and technology access and services via up to 12 Comcast Digital Literacy Learning Labs in major cities.
In a separate announcement, Comcast said it is making a million-dollar-plus commitment to LIFT, an anti-poverty group, to help bridge the digital divide for low-income commmunities.
It is a two-year commitment of $1.3 million in cash and in-kind support to help LIFT expand its digital literacy programs in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia (where Comcast is based) and Washington.
It features Comcast and NBCU Digital Literacy "Hubs," where LIFT community members can get online access to look for jobs, access benefits and tap into other online resources.
Comcast is already providing low-cost broadband to low-income hopes with school-aged children through its Internet Essentials program.
